Reiff: Trump Operative Warns California on ‘Collision Course’

ByRick Reiff |December 14, 2016

Costa Mesa political consultant Eric Beach, a 39-year-old “boy wonder” who ran a key super PAC that helped to elect Donald Trump, has a message for Californians despondent or defiant over a Trump presidency: Get over it.

“We have a lot of issues here in California that need to be fixed. I would hope that we borrow Donald Trump’s motto and look at these next four years to see how we can make this state better,” Beach said on the “Inside OC with Rick Reiff” public affairs program.

Beach said Trump in many ways is “non-partisan” and critics should look beyond his sometimes inflammatory rhetoric and judge him on the policies he implements:

“I believe those policies are going to make the country great and therefore, let’s look at how that shakes out.”

California politicians who have been laying down markers for the incoming Trump administration, such as by reaffirming sanctuary cities, should instead try to avoid a “collision course.”

“If we still want to continue promoting policies that are out of lockstep with the rest of the country, really most Americans, I believe, then we deserve to have a confrontation,” Beach said.

Californians voted overwhelmingly for Hillary Clinton, alone providing her roughly three-million popular vote margin. She even carried Orange County, the first Democratic presidential candidate to do so since Franklin Roosevelt in 1936. But Beach contended the popular vote did “not really” reflect the will of the American people, but only “the popular will of California, New York and Massachusetts.”

Beach launched Great America PAC (political action committee) in January with $300,000 in seed money from William Doddridge, CEO of Tustin-based the Jewelry Exchange. He recruited veteran political strategist Ed Rollins as his co-chairman and eventually raised and spent $30 million, nearly a fifth of the Trump campaign’s total.

Great America’s efforts included 1-800 TV ads – “mocked” but “effective,” Beach said — as well as provocative spots attacking Clinton over the Benghazi tragedy.

Beach said the PAC will continue to work for President Trump, promoting his agenda and, when necessary, taking on his Democratic and Republican critics alike. Already the PAC has filed suit to block the Green Party’s bid for a vote recount in Wisconsin.

Beach said his was the first Republican PAC to merge “the grass roots with the donor community,” attracting “low-propensity” voters and raising roughly half of its funds from small donors. The biggest donations came late in the campaign – $5 million from Laurie Perlmutter, wife of Marvel Entertainment CEO Isaac Perlmutter, and $2 million each from Houston Texans owner Robert McNair and Dallas banker Andy Beal.

While many decry the growing power of PACs such as his, Beach called them “a form of patriotism” that provide a counter to dues-fueled union support for Democrats. He said attempts to put spending limits on PACs threaten the ability of citizens to participate in the political process.

He called Trump’s election victory a repudiation of the Democratic Party, “establishment Republicans” and the mainstream media.

Beach said he thought Hillary Clinton was a “weak candidate” and that Bernie Sanders would have been a more formidable opponent for Trump because “the election was about changing Washington, D.C.”

Beach, whose previous clients included former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, recounted the derision that he and others on the Trump team encountered throughout the year, much of it from fellow Republican operatives.

“I was told early on that I would never work in this business again,” he said. But now it’s a different story: “Some people I heard from last week, I haven’t heard from in ten, 12 years.”

Part one of the Beach interview is airing this week on PBS SoCal-TV and Cox3. Go to www.rickreiff.com for all show times. All shows and post-show Open Mic segments are also available on You Tube.

Part two of the interview begins airing next Tuesday.

FILED UNDER:

RELATED STORIES

ByRick Reiff |August 31, 2017

A new gas tax to fix California’s crumbling roads has angered taxpayer groups, sparked a GOP movement to take back legislative seats and launched a gubernatorial bid by Huntington Beach Assemblyman Travis Allen.

ByRick Reiff |August 17, 2017

Chapman University Law Professor and former Orange County supervisor chief of staff Mario Mainero discusses the controversies enveloping the county District Attorney’s office. The discord has fueled an election challenge to incumbent Tony Rackauckas from Supervisor Todd Spitzer. But many observers are pushing for an “outsider” to enter the race. Is Mainero the answer? He discusses the state of justice in OC and whether he’ll run for DA.

ByRick Reiff |August 3, 2017

Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa talks with Rick Reiff about his run for governor of California, reflecting on his achievements as a mayor and taking a few jabs at Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is also running for governor.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

But Beach contended the popular vote did “not really” reflect the will of the American people, but only “the popular will of California, New York and Massachusetts.”

You’re an idiot.

Paul Lucas

This Trump surrogate reminds me of the Neegan surrogates on TWD

LFOldTimer

My belief is that Trump was always in the lead.

It was the crooked media that tried to deceive us w/ their rigged poll numbers and ‘fake news’.

And now that Hillary lost they blame the Russians for exposing truth-filled emails. lol.

Classic.

BeeBee.BeeLeaves

So crooked.

Following Syrian liberation, which MSM says “fall”, but we invaded really. Following on the ground journalists. So awful. For 4 years, nothing but lies from mainstream media. The white helmets? No one has seen them. They are a PR stunt. A war with a public relations firm. Wow. The useful idiots that Obama, Hillary, McCain and Graham armed, and asked to act as Syrian rebels for this false revolution we created, are al Queda, Nusra thugs. We paid for their weapons. That little Anne Frank of Syria child, Bana. Her mom is a mujadin for al Queda. Her father’s friends are the ones that tormented and beheaded a 12 year old. We, taxpayers, paid them all for their service.

You are so right. Can’t make this stuff up. Have pictures. Wish we could post. They are from Chinese on the ground journalists. Suppressed in USA for obvious reasons.